Deer molting and flowers blooming

To bank carbon karma, I stayed local hiking Mt. Pisgah. Starting from North TH before sunrise, 9 different birds were singing in the parking lot. My car was the only one …

Even before rounding the hill from the TH on Tr#3, 3 deer sprinted up the hill from the valley floor. Later on the other side of Tr#1, 4 deer were above the trail busily eating. In both groups, several deer looked almost white – they are molting. That first group was very skittish, but this second one couldn’t stop eating.

New Birds via Merlin song ID: Hammond’s Flycatcher, Evening Grosbeak, Violet-green swallow – the swallows put on an extraordinary arial show! … A red-tail hawk nest location surfaced as well.

Wildflowers, however, just keep blooming! The meadows still painted blue, pink and yellow … the camas are mostly fading, and new wildflowers showing off

With photos of scat and footprints multiple AI engines could not agree from footprints what they were – dog, coyote, cougar, bobcat … quite funny. Fresh poo 1x seemed coyote. Turkeys had moved into that east area where the coyote was last week (don’t think there now).

A last minute decision to forgo driving to hike Mt Pisgah turned out just right … But what struck me over every one of the 20 miles was – GREEN.

The Route

Started at North Th and went around on Tr 3 using a rule that I couldn’t re-trace the same trail the same direction, I covered most of the hill and touched the summit 3x. The arboretum area was avoided. Left around 6:15 and returned around 2:00 pm

Trail conditions were fine; muddy in all the suspect places but nothing above trail runner soles (a few rock hops). Human traffic heavy on summit and the river meadows surprisingly.

Gear Box

Altra Timp 6 shoes got their first wet trail-side grass test, and passed for me. The early trail around the hill on Tr#3 is all grass over trail and my shoes were wet, my socks were wet (almost all shoes suffer from wet grass it seems). In the Timp 6, my feet dried very fast. Great first test but with only 65+ miles in the shoes, not sufficient for a full review.

Data Geek

• Shoes: Altra Lone Timp 6 – Currex Insole, T-Form insole pad
• Pack: Gossamer Gear GRIT (full foothills day hike)
• Upper Layers: Lightweight baselayer, SkyGoat fleece med weight (until noon)
• Upper shell: none
• Trekking Poles: Gossamer Gear
• Approximate Times: 06:15 – 14:00
• Carbon ratio: 6.0 hours (1.5 hours driving: 7.5 hours hiking); YTD = 81.25 hours banked
• Miles hiked YTD: 378
• Notes:
  • Photos: moderate
  • Speed: moderate
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Weather: 40-50s grey, clouds and sun for last 30 min